Wherever you are
by Zenayin
Summary: When Jirina visits Hogwarts for her seventh year, she has no idea that this will be much, much more exciting than living in one of the only two magical countries in the world. Neither do the golden trio, Draco Malfoy or Severus Snape.
1. To a different world

**Disclaimer**: Hogwarts, Harry Potter universe, wands and Dumbledore all belong to J. K. Rowing. I make no money from this. Jirina and Aryanth belong to me, as do Dubia, Samariel, the Vilini race, and some other stuff in this chapter.

----x x x----

The small, red-haired girl frowned. "Aryanth, you're an idiot."

"Am not. It was your mother's explicit wish that you go to Britania if something happens to her, and find your grandfather there. And since your grandfather currently lives in that old castle in Scotland, I thought it would be proper to ask him if you can spend the rest of your schooling time there," said the taller of the two, scowling down at the girl, who was easily two heads smaller than himself.

"It's Britain, not Britania. And what about my project? And my friends? My _horses? _For all you or I know, they could be teaching about goblin wars and acromantulas there! And those people judge each other by _blood_, Aryi. How am I to explain them that oh well, I have just enough human blood in my veins to not sprout wings out of my back, unlike some certain other person I know? They'd lynch me. You know there is a reason Britain has been pretty much isolated for the past three hundred years, and it's not because of the Bowtruckles and Leprechauns."

Aryanth looked up at the sky in despair and muttered something that she could swear was "Ziva help me...", at which Jirina snorted in amusement. "I doubt love will change my mind, Aryi."

"I was trying to resist the urge to smack you, that's all," he retorted. "Now sit down, you make me feel like I'm talking to a child." It was true; even standing, the girl was barely taller than the sitting, dark-skinned man in front of her.

With a long-suffering sigh, she obeyed and sat back down on the stone bench, from which she jumped in anger and surprise earlier when Aryanth told her that they are going to visit Scotland. It wasn't bad news in itself, she supposed - she wanted to visit the British Isles for as long as she could remember. But what really, really, _really_ bothered her was that Aryanth, her guardian, wanted her to spend the next two _years_ on that rainy island (the Brits were strange, she thought - only seven years of education...), leaving behind her home, school and life.

Not that she would miss Zwelni gaj. The school, like the British one, was a boarding school, but unlike Hogwarts, students had no choice whether they wanted to live there or not - it was the only admitted school in Karanthania, and as such, the only choice the parents had was Zwelni gaj or no education. And some of the higher years wanted to leave the school almost as much as she wanted to stay in her beloved country. Almost.

And then there were the younger kids, who really didn't deserve to leave their parents at the age of seven, even if they could visit their daddies and mummies on weekends...

Zwelni gaj was the Muggle equivalent of elementary school, high school and university. The system was old and in dire need to be modernized, but the government had others, more urgent matters on hand - like the rebellions of Gamayuns or attempts at slavery from Vilini. Living in the only magical country in Europe had its bad sides, including providing shelter and protection for more humanoid creatures than there were Giants in Britain, and at the same time assuring that each race lived in peace with the others.

But still, Jirina loved Karanthania, with all of its diversity, magical outbursts and strange creatures that tried to sell you Simargl eggs in exchange for your hair. Especially if that hair was red.

And she certainly didn't want to leave it because her mother thought she'd be safer in a country that has a Dark Lord on the lookout. Or Muggles. Not that Jirina had anything against Muggles - it was just that Muggles had something against _her,_ and getting burnt at the stake just wasn't one of her plans for future. There, too, was a reason why Karanthania was isolated - from Muggles, at least - ever since the Middle Ages.

Aryanth waved a hand in front of her face. "This is planet Earth, calling Jirina, Earth calling Jirina! Did you even listen to what I said?"

"Err..."

"I _said _that we could make a deal. I persuade Dumbledore to let you take Dubia, Samariel and Lirska - Triglav knows where you'd put him, but that's not my problem - and allow you to visit Karanthania in the summer, and in exchange you'd behave as if you are a normal human being, not some angry banshee sent from the outer space, for the next two years - at Scotland. No escapades home, no trying to fire yourself to the moon, and no burning down _anything."_

Jirina considered the offer for a moment. Resisting the temptation to burn stuff would be hard, but she could put up with nine months of Scotland. She hoped.

"And if I don't agree?"

"Then I'm going to tell everyone how you didn't carry out your mother's last wish and then chain you up and order Lirska to fly to Hogwarts with you hanging upside down from his horns. And die of shame when Dumbledore realizes his granddaughter didn't want to carry out _his_ wish because I am not a good fatherly figure that should be an expert at persuasion," said Aryanth.

"Hmm... Tempting. But I don't want to hurt Lirska's horns, he's too sensitive for that" (she resolutely ignored the snort that came from Aryanth's direction at calling her canine friend 'sensitive'), "but only if you go, too. I know you enjoy rain just so much."

"I cannot, you know that."

"Yes, because you have such a hard job of watching over me here. While I'm in Scotland."

He rolled his eyes at the sarcasm. "Jiri, you know I cannot just make myself home there. I'm considered an adult in the eyes of humans, and as such have to take care of myself. Earn my own food and shelter. And the Brits - they have laws against... Against us. Even if I am only half Vilin and have ears alright and no telepathic abilities or whatever it is that they do, I am not considered a wizard, nor a full human."

"But those laws only forbid you of using a wand! And you don't even _have_ a wand. And I see no laws that say you have to tell the British Ministry who your father was."

"Because blue skin and white hair is not obvious enough," said Aryanth.

He could swear Jirina growled at that. She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Are you an Angelius or not? If I need to remind you, you are as close to the metamorphmagi in human terms as you can be. And if my eyes aren't betraying me, your skin is currently... Err... Rainbow." She watched as Aryanth changed colors in a rapid succession, as if he was imitating a very flashy chameleon.

"Stop it! You're not supposed to make me laugh when I'm upset with you, Aryi!" She couldn't resist and sniggered at the pink man that suddenly sat in front of her. But then she sobered again, remembering why she was upset with him in the first place. And if everything else failed to work...

"Oh Aryi... You can't leave me alone, not you too." Suddenly, Jirina wished she could cry when she wanted to. "Please. You've always been here for me... Remember the time when Lirska disappeared? Mom just said he'll come back sooner or later, but you went out and helped me find him... And he'd be _dead _now if it wasn't for you... And it wasn't Mother who slept on the rug in my room because I was afraid of being alone in the darkness..." She felt like crying now, as the memories flashed through her mind.

Aryanth's face softened and Jirina, although a little guiltily, knew that she won.

-----

In the end, they all went - two horses, the dark gray male and chestnut female, Jirina's winged, horned, dog-like (as all Simargls tended to be) Simargl named Lirska, Aryanth, Jirina, and a bag of fresh-baked croissants. After locking and warding the small house that Jirina lived in her whole life, they went to the local Apparition point - from which they could reach the outside world -, where Jirina and Aryanth made sure Lirska knew which way to fly (there was no way Muggles would let a large winged dog travel by train) and then bribed the horses, Dubia and Samariel, to enter the cattle wagon of the moving, puffing monster that was to take them through Germany, France and then through the Channel to Britain, where a Hogwarts representative and Lirska would be waiting for them.

When they first set foot in Dover, it was raining.

----x x x----

**Author's note:**

The Vilini are a race I made up a few months ago. 'Vilin' means 'elf' in Slovene (and, I suspect, some other Slavic languages...), but they don't have much to do with elves. For starters, they have no ears. You'll find more about them later in the story, although some stuff is edited because, well, it wouldn't really fit into the Potter universe :P. An Angelius (plural: angels) is a hybrid between humans and Vilini. Name comes from their role as messengers earlier in the history (messenger -- 'angel' in Greek, I believe). As Jirina tells Aryanth, they are similar to metamorphmagi - but they cannot add or take their own bones or organs away, which is why it's a bit hard to change into animals with tails or wings.

Zwelni gaj is also something I made up and it's a distorted word for 'green grove' in some Slavic languages. As you can probably figure out, I'm Slavic myself, which is why you'll be seeing a lot of weird words in the fanfic. Jirina does, after all, come from Karanthania, which is a hidden country of Slavic origins in Europe :).

Ziva was the old Slavic paganish goddess of love, Triglav was the god of divination. Gamayuns, in this story, are a race of birds with man faces. It comes from Russian folklore; but birds with woman heads often appeared in Slavic mythology under different names. Simargl is a large dog with wings (dog griffin of sorts), but I altered that a little bit. My Simargls also have horns and come from eggs. Yeah :P.

As for the story... I hope to make it novel-long, but I'm not hundred percent sure how many chapters or words it'll make. I'm hoping to reach 50,000 words this month, though, Nanowrimo is fun :D. Things will settle a bit when Jirina comes to Hogwarts - no new races every chapter, don't worry - and you'll find out more about, well, everything, soon.

Just for the record, this is the first fanfic written by me, so... Bear with me. And my language, because English isn't my native. Now... How about a review? 3


	2. To each their own

**Disclaimer**: Hogwarts, Harry Potter universe, wands and Dumbledore all belong to J. K. Rowing. I make no money from this. Jirina and Aryanth belong to me, as do Dubia, Samariel, the Vilini race, and some other stuff in this chapter.

----x x x----

More than just slightly irritated and annoyed, Draco Malfoy drummed his fingers under the table and glared at the remaining first year students as if it was their fault. Which, in Draco's opinion, it was. It was their fault that Slytherin only got five of forty first years this year. It was their fault because they just weren't more_Slytherin._ It was also the Dark Lord's fault for getting killed by an infant and making the world a safer place for Mudbloods and their children a decade ago.

And Slytherin, as everybody knew, was the best house out there. The only True house out there. And it would not do - it would simply not do - to depend on the lowly number of five students as the future of the Only house. Not when Gryffindor managed to snag twelve. They would have to start a campaign on the Hogwarts train the next year - join Slytherin or suffer a life-long ban from Honeydukes. Hogwarts-long ban, anyways.

Only that he won't _be_ there the next year, and the sixth year dunderheads were not to be depended upon.

He stared daggers at the bloody Griffs who dared to try to take away the glory of Slytherin house. It was all Potter's fault. He knew it. The little irrational beasts just wanted to drool over Potter's shoes.

As Dumbledore stood from the High table, he got distracted and the Great Hall, full of newly made Gryffindors, fell silent.

"If I may have your attention... Before we start the dinner, I would like to remind you all about the rules. Mr. Filch kindly asks you all that the suits of armour are to be left alone and that anyone caught..."

His attention drifted off again. _Kindly asks? _Filch being kind was like Granger not lifting a hand when she knew the answer at the class. Not happening.

"... and now I would like to introduce to you an exchange student from the elusive Zwelni gaj school, Miss Jirina Antoninova. She will stay and study at Hogwarts for the following school year, so let us make sure that Miss Antoninova and her guardian feel welcome and at home." With that, the Headmaster clapped his hands once and the doors to the Hall opened.

Through them stepped two figures; a man in his early twenties with hair that would easier belong to a fantasy setting - a long, thick white plait was hanging down his back, a thinner, but still waist-long braid in front of each ear, joining together at the back of his neck, each tied with a long blue cylinder-shaped object that could be made either of leather or metal, and all three linked together with a dark blue ribbon. His eyes, even from the distance, shone dark purple, and the calm expression on the guy's face was slightly Lupin-like; Draco could just imagine him bowing to the girl and saying "patience, my child..." and then stroking his chin.

The girl was short; even more so at the side of the tall man that was apparently her guardian, and her mane could easily outmatch his; bright green at the top and the head and descending blue over her fringe and back, finally melting into dark purple at the tips. It was messy and reminded Draco slightly of Potter's, what with it growing into all directions.

Both wore black robes that were common in Britain, but neither seemed comfortable in them. The girl - Jirina - stared at the magical ceiling, mesmerized, until she was pulled towards the tables by her companion, who looked at the four tables uncertainly and then, much to Draco's delight, picked the Slytherin one and sat next to Draco as he nodded at the two strangers.

The lack of first years was suddenly worth it. The table has more free space than the others, and if losing five little bastards meant Slytherins got this year's attraction, Draco was all for it. He grinned to himself and shook the girl's hand.

---

Aryanth and her were supposed to spend two weeks in London before going to Scotland, but it turned out that Lirska wasn't exactly fit for such an awfully big city, and neither were they, really. Karanthania, as small as it was, was mostly crisscrossed by villages and little towns, not cities with millions of people. And the weather... She didn't even want to think about the weather. Her home was sunny and warm; this wretched island was gray and rainy and full of smog. _Even_ if it had awesome buses.

When the Hogwarts Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, had described the school to her, the older woman somehow forgot to mention the man-sized sand clocks with diamonds and rubies instead of sand hanging above the Entrance Hall, the moving staircases and, most of all - the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall. Jirina entered the Hall wide eyed, stopping in her tracks at the starry sky above that reminded her of home. She always looked at the stars there, imagining the brightest star was where her parents lived now...

Aryanth had to drag her inside. She had never been in the Great Hall before, even though they were at Hogwarts for some time now - they always ate outside with the horses, and had too much work to do to explore the castle, like getting her books, finding out everything about the magical world, eating ice cream, dealing with the nosy Ministry, eating more of that delicious ice cream in Diagon Alley,... and she suddenly felt like a first year all over again, only that she had a whole hall of people staring at her this time. Maybe dyeing her hair like that wasn't a good idea after all.

She smiled nervously at the blond boy sitting next to her who seemed to be around her age.

"Hi. I'm Draco Malfoy, pleasure to meet you. What year are you attending?"

"Uh... Jirina Antoninova, and this is Aryanth," she pointed to her left, "nice to meet you too. Seventh, although de- err, Headmaster said that I may need some help with the classes to catch up. Different school systems and all." She took a closer look at the boy - his skin was almost as pale as Aryanth's, his features aristocratic and his frame tall and lean. She's heard of the Malfoys before; their access to Karanthania was refused after the first rise of Voldemort due to disputable connections, but Draco didn't have the air of a Dark Lord's follower.

"I've never heard of that surname before... You a pureblood?

She glanced helplessly at Aryanth, whose usually neutral expression seemed quite amused at that moment. The bastard wasn't going to help her!

"Pureblood?" she asked tentatively.

A frown passed the boy's face. "I suppose that's a no then. There aren't really many half-bloods in our house, but I guess that since you're an exchange student and all, we can allow you to sit with us."_What?_

"I'm no half-blood!" So much about first impressions, she thought, the brat made it seem like he was doing her a favor. And made her feel like a lesser being. Pfft. "My blood is quite _whole_, thank you."

Apparently she became the star of the evening by now, because suddenly the very Hall seemed to be staring at her. She shifted uncomfortably on her chair at the scrunity.

"Your ancestors, _wholeblood._ Were they wizards?"

What on Earth was he talking about? And why would it matter? She stared at the enchanted ceiling, leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms. This was going to be long.

"Hmm. My parents were both wizards, but my mother's mother was a Gamayun ancestress and my father's grandfather had some Vilini blood, from the same Vilin branch that Aryanth's father came, and there was an incubus somewhere along the line too, I heard, _and_there's also that Leprechaun who nobody in my family could ever remember whether he was three or four generations back, and my father's mother had an african shaman immigrant for a grandmother." She took a deep breath. "That's all I know of, really, my mother always took pride in telling me my family comes from six different races, although mostly from my father's side... My mother's father is only a wizard, though, even if a powerful one..." It was a shame, she thought, that she couldn't tell them that her grandfather was the most powerful wizard alive. _That_ would shut Draco Malfoy's mouth.

However, it seemed that she achieved the direct opposite; his mouth was forming a slight 'o' and Malfoy stared at her. Slytherin table stared at her. Hell, even the Headmaster himself was looking at her with that twinkle of his.

And then the table next to them - the one shrouded in red and gold - erupted into laughter, soon joined by the rest of the students. Aryanth snickered next to her. "I doubt you'll get called a half-blood again, love."

"But what did it mean?" She was still a bit lost. Quite a bit. Pureblood? Huh. Maybe it meant no other humanoid races along the line... British wizarding world was famous for its laws against 'non-wizard' creatures; no wand and all.

"I I think he meant if you have any non-magical ancestors, Jirina. Muggles, as they call them. Prejudice is high here, even more against their own, but non-magical people, than against other magical species. These children take pride in not having any Muggle blood, at least this is how Mr. Snape explained it to me. You learned about Voldemort and his holocaust ideas against Muggles in your history classes; Brits still have a long way to go before they get completely rid of those."

Her eyes widened. They were over _that_ decades ago, she thought. Muggle prejudice? In history class, they always found it absurd, if terrible - in a land dominated by non-magical folk, surely the two branches mixed together in every-day life? She looked back at Malfoy, who was still shooting her amused glances. Or maybe not.

Karanthania was the last resort for many creatures who were banished or chased from their own land. It was full of dragons and birds and bears and humanoids of all colors and sizes, from Vilini and their descendants - Angels, Veelas, offspring of the two - to Trahjas, the small men of Alps, and Merpeople. But Britain - and Hogwarts - was different even in that way. The only magical creatures were hidden in a forest students were forbidden to enter or deep in the lake, and British wizards have lived amongst Muggles for hundreds of years, have used their products, filled their cities, had Muggle neighbors, yet claimed to be so much better than them, the top of the food chain.

You didn't want to claim to be better than the rest in Karanthania, or else you could quickly become a slave to an angry Vilin fellow or get eaten by, say, giant thinking dragon. The land was hidden from non-magical folk because of a practical reason - Muggles had a fine saying about destroying what you cannot understand. But to take pride in... That was sad.

Jirina was brought back to the present with a nudge from her own top-of-the-chain man and looked at the boy sitting to her right innocently. "Are _you_ a half-blood?"

The students laughed even harder at that, although Draco Malfoy looked disgusted by the very notion. "Me? Malfoy is the purest of families in Britain and across the continent! Sixteen generations of wizards and witches, I'm purer than the water you're drinking."

The girl sputtered. She was going to be a nice girl. She was going to keep her thoughts to herself and not become the residential clown. She was going to be quiet for the first time in her life. She needed friends. She was-

"That's bullshit."

Oh, but trust Aryanth to do something stupid when she didn't do it. Count on him to do it instead. Clap hands to encourage him.

"That's bullshit, bloody purity. If the local races don't interfere with each other, you'll start inbreeding sooner or later. And with inbreeding comes all sorts of trouble, even the loss of magical powers. And besides, we all evolved from the same animal, mostly, and from the same race. It's natural. Have they taught you nothing in your history class? Muggles were always the dominant race. If wizards didn't breed with them, you and I would have been extinct thousands of years ago. Each and everyone of us had Muggles in the blood line at one time or another, or did your family suddenly come to life a thousand and six hundred years ago? I see nothing worth of pride in destroying your line, or even your race. You Brits chased everyone else away centuries ago, Muggles are your only chance to survive if you don't want your children or grandchildren to become squibs from all the inbreeding."

... And trust him to kill all the humor in the Hall.

Malfoy turned towards the Angel slowly. "Ah, but who are you to talk, o heavenly creature? _Your_ breed had no trouble dominating everyone else while we happy Muggle-descendants caved in horror. Or do you think I am blind from the, ah, inbreeding? I can see your wings quite perfectly, as invisible and small you tried to make them. I can see the color of your eyes. We Englishmen are not so stupid, _Vilin_."

"If you bothered to read your homework, you would have found out that an Angelius isn't the same as an Vilin, Mr. Malfoy," Aryanth sneered. "While it is true that my father was one, you should have known that to get the wings you were so proud of discovering, I need a wizarding parent for the gene to stop being recessive. But of course, that is Muggle theory. I'm sure it is below you. A man once said that it is better to know nothing than only knowing half of something, boy; your information is-"

"That is enough," said a stern voice and Dumbledore suddenly appeared at the table. "We will not discuss such prejudices here. Everyone has a right for their own opinions. Please respect that, even if you do not agree with it. Now, if you two are quite finished, I'm sure the students and staff are hungry. Let us eat!" He clapped his hands again and food appeared on the tables.

The disagreement forgotten, students launched out at the full plates. Both men sat, sulking, with their arms crossed over their chest, and Jirina had to put some effort into resisting the temptation to point out how similar they looked at that moment.

---

Later in the evening, Aryanth and Jirina returned to the paddock where the two horses were put. Dubia fell sick after all the train travel, so they decided to sleep in the small barn that was put in the paddock to keep an eye on her. Jirina sat on the slightly wet grass and watched the sky for what seemed like hours; the sky was clearer in this part of the country, and she felt like it cleared her thoughts along with the stars. It wasn't a good beginning, since the whole Slytherin House held grudges against her after the fight she had with Malfoy, but tomorrow classes would start, and hopefully things would get better from then on...

----x x x----

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I apologize. I have yet to go to Britain, so I only speak from what I have heard and read.

I think that Voldemort's first war hasn't affected the rest of Europe much; we never hear much about what's happening in England, so I assumed that it's the same with the magical world. The only knowledge I have of Britain is its history, and even that ends after the second world war, so since I modeled Karanthania after my own country, I'll just have to believe that they were only taught briefly about the first war against Voldemort, and not much after.

I'm also sorry that there's not much happening in the story yet - I'm just setting the foundations now, so to speak, and you'll find more about, well, everything, as the story goes on.


End file.
